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Cocaine imported by Johnny Kock was seized on the continent in a consignment of soap powder

Dutchman Kock was jailed for 25 years in October 2014 after pleading guilty to drugs trafficking and money laundering charges.

The 67-year-old masterminded a massive drugs pipeline between Holland, Germany and Merseyside – capable of flooding the streets with up to £960m of cocaine.

Prosecutors are hoping to seize the pensioner’s international assets at a POCA hearing on March 17 in the new year.

Kock used a pond liner company as cover to ship vast amounts of the drug stashed in boxes of washing powder – using legitimate companies as unwitting allies.

At the time of his sentencing, a court heard he may have shipped in up to 6,000kg in total – potentially worth almost a billion pounds if sold on the streets.

The net began to close in only when border agents at the Channel Tunnel entrance in France uncovered 23kg of cocaine – with a purity of up to 88% – in a shipment of soap powder. German customs officers were then made aware of a second shipment, found to contain 107kg of cocaine.

Judge Mark Brown, who jailed Kock, said he “literally flooded the streets” with cocaine.

Steve Baldwin, regional head of investigations at the National Crime Agency, said at the time: “There aren’t many who get 25 years for drug trafficking. He has got connections and he played on them. He is a serious drug dealer.

“We have had many serious drugs barons put behind bars over the last few years but this guy is right up there. He is definitely right at the top – he sits alongside many of the more infamous drug barons that are well-known in the North West.”